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Do you have a flat cam?

Robert from the Block Shop was the guest speaker at this month’s meeting.

We learned that by far the largest part of a top quality rebuild is cleaning, measuring, and preparation. Robert lead us through the process of inspection, and cleaning. He covered the entire process of rebuilding an engine from start to finish. We also battered him with a lot of questions. We also learned that flat tappet cams (virtually all of our old LBC’c) do not like modern oil, and that an oil additive is needed at every oil change if we want our engines to live long.

Here is a cam that came out of a 1955 MGTF that I am restoring. Notice the pitting on the cam. That will cause the corresponding tappet to wear rapidly and pretty much finish the engine. The second photo is of one of the lobes that the local welder repaired in Singapore where the car spent its previous life.